Siddharth Mishra's Key Ideas from Sanskrit Non-Translatables
by Rajiv Malhotra, Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji

• Translations dilute the original meaning of Sanskrit terms, failing to capture their profound implications.
• English, rooted in Judeo-Christian and Hellenistic traditions, cannot adequately represent the spiritual and ontological dimensions of Sanskrit.
• Terms like "yoga," "dharma," and "samadhi" have been reduced to mere approximations, removing the essence of lived experience and philosophical depth.

• Malhotra introduces the concept of "digestion," where a dominant civilization (Western culture) absorbs Indian traditions but removes their dharmic core (strips it of its original context and meaning)
• This leads to a hybrid form where the original meaning is erased.
• He draws parallels between the digestion of Sanskrit terms and the absorption of yoga and Ayurveda into Western frameworks without retaining their spiritual or philosophical essence.

The digestion process unfolds in four phases:

1. Fragmentation: The dominant culture dissects the target culture into digestible parts.
2. Repackaging: Chosen elements are adapted and "scrubbed" of their source meanings, secularizing or Judeo-Christianizing them (e.g., yoga stripped of its spiritual roots).
3. Erasure: The original context is either erased or diminished.
4. Assimilation: The dominant civilization assimilates these parts to strengthen itself, often discarding the weaker culture as irrelevant or obsolete.

Supremacy of Western Universalism

• Western thought has always positioned itself as the global standard, viewing its cultural, religious, and philosophical framework as the default for human civilization.
• By digesting non-Western traditions, the West aims to bolster this universalism.
• Malhotra emphasizes that this is not just about superiority but about eliminating "difference anxiety"—the discomfort the West feels towards systems that cannot be easily reconciled with its own worldview.

• The Judeo-Christian missionary mandate—particularly Christianity's emphasis on evangelism—has long sought to subsume other traditions into itself.
• By "digesting" the spiritual and philosophical aspects of other cultures, the West can absorb useful elements, while erasing the indigenous systems that pose a theological threat to Christian doctrines.
• Malhotra argues that this process helps maintain Christian dominance while appearing to embrace pluralism.

• Western identity is built on a coherent narrative of progress, rationality, and superiority.
• Indigenous traditions, particularly those from India, are often seen as too complex or "alien" to integrate fully.
• Thus, the West breaks down these systems into digestible parts that can be assimilated without threatening the coherence of Western thought.

• Malhotra argues that the digestion process serves to neutralize threats from non-Western civilizations.
• By fragmenting and reinterpreting other cultures, the West ensures that these cultures do not challenge its own global dominance.
• For example, elements of yoga and meditation are assimilated into Western frameworks, but their dharmic roots are either secularized or erased​.

• Some Western scholars claim that digestion results in mutual enrichment rather than domination.
• They argue that Western civilization evolves by absorbing foreign influences, extending the life and creativity of both the host and the digested cultures.
• However, Malhotra dismisses this as a façade, highlighting the permanent erasure of the source culture's identity and agency​.

• The concept of "sameness" in Vedanta refers to the idea that the ultimate reality is One, but this "One" manifests in a multiplicity of forms.
• Vedanta teaches that the relative world is real but contingent upon the absolute. Hence, differences in the relative world are essential for ethical distinctions (such as dharma vs. adharma).
• The idea of complete "sameness," or the denial of these differences, violates dharma's principles by ignoring the need to distinguish truth from falsehood.

• The West, through postmodernism, distorts this notion of "oneness" by promoting the idea that all identities should be blurred or dismantled.
• Postmodernism critiques Western "grand narratives" but also pushes for a flattening of cultural distinctions, implying that strong cultural identities are oppressive.
• This erases valuable differences, allowing for the dilution and eventual digestion of non-Western traditions into the Western framework.

Western seekers often project their prior conditioning from Judeo-Christian, secular, or scientific frameworks onto it — with assumptions that align it with their native traditions, ignoring key differences.

This leads to several distortions:

• Oneness Misunderstood: Westerners often conflate Vedantic "oneness" with the idea that everything is equal and no distinctions are needed. Vedanta, however, asserts that the absolute reality is One, but this does not negate relative differences essential to karma and dharma. Ethics & morality still require acknowledging distinctions between right & wrong​.

• Relativity Misinterpretation: Another common error is the belief that since the world is not absolute, it doesn't matter. This is a misreading of Vedanta. While the world is transient, Vedanta encourages responsible action without attachment to outcomes. Krishna’s teachings in the Bhagavad Gita stress action in the relative world without escapism.
• Simplified Concepts: Western seekers may reduce profound spiritual practices into mere physical or mental exercises. For example, Yoga is often reduced to a health routine, ignoring its spiritual dimensions.

• Malhotra stresses the importance of regaining "adhikara" or the authority to define and protect Sanskrit's meaning within its original context.
• He believes that only those rooted in the dharmic tradition have the right to interpret these terms, and external perspectives lead to distortion and loss of authenticity.

• Malhotra uses the concept of "poison pills" as a defense mechanism against digestion.
• These are non-negotiable cultural or philosophical elements that, if absorbed by the dominant culture, would disrupt or destroy its internal coherence.
• For example, concepts like karma and reincarnation (central to Hindu philosophy) challenge Abrahamic doctrines of salvation and linear time. 

• When intact, these "poison pills" make it difficult for Western universalism to fully digest Hindu thought, as they provoke fundamental contradictions within Western frameworks. 
• As a result, these concepts resist Western digestion, forcing the West to either reject or misinterpret them, as full assimilation would require altering fundamental Western principles​.

• Apart from Western universalism, Malhotra identifies Islam's historical impact on Sanskrit through Persian influence on Hindi-Urdu, and Christianity’s influence through colonization.
• Both are seen as forces that have led to the decline of Sanskrit in India, replacing dharmic terms with Abrahamic equivalents.

The chapter underlines the inseparability of Sanskrit and dharma.

According to Malhotra, Sanskrit’s grammar and vocabulary are inextricably tied to cosmic principles of dharma, meaning the loss of Sanskrit directly affects the practice and understanding of dharma itself.

The solution lies in making Sanskrit non-translatables more prevalent in everyday discourse.

Malhotra advocates for introducing these terms into English without translation, creating a richer and more accurate global understanding of Indian concepts:

• Identifying and preventing the reframing of ideas.
• Preserving the context of the evolution of the ideas.
• preventing the re-contextualization & re-packaging by those without adhikara.
• protecting the experimental basis of Indian Knowledge.
• Preventing the mangling of texts, practices, symbols, artifacts.